Lower power sales drag down Phinma’s first half

LOWER electricity sales brought down Phinma Energy Corp.’s net income in the first half of the year to P298 million, as against the P542 million Phinma reported in the same period last year.

The company said on Tuesday it registered a significant volume of customer migration due to the implementation of the retail competition and open access (RCOA) scheme. Despite the temporary restraining order issued (TRO) by the Supreme Court (SC), Phinma Energy was able to garner 14-percent retail electricity supply (RES) market share.

“However, heightened competition and increasing penetration of must dispatch variable renewable energy [VRE] have driven market prices of electricity downward,” it said. As such, the number of additional customers, due to the implementation of RCOA, was below targeted volumes as a result of the TRO.

Based on amended rules of the RCOA policy, an end-user with an average monthly peak demand of at least 1 megawatt (MW) is mandated to enter into a retail supply contract (RSC) with a RES by its mandatory contestability date of February 26.

Mandatory contestability for CCs with 750-kilowatt (kW) to 999-kW average peak demand remained to be effective as of June 26.

The rules also states that the lowering of the threshold to cover an end-user with an average monthly peak demand of at least 500 kW is set on June 26, 2018.

However, the SC issued a TRO that stopped the lowering of the threshold to cover those with an average peak demand of 750 kW to 999 kW.

Still, Phinma said it is continuously working to manage supply portfolio costs to remain competitive and is hopeful that more contestable customers will be encouraged to participate voluntarily in RCOA.

“Together with increasing electricity demand due to the planned construction activities in the country, the company remains positive on its prospects for the second half of the year,” it said.

Earlier, Phinma said it registered 171 MW of new contracts. The company claims it is the second-largest single RES.